Worth getting a ride on mower for 0.3 acres?

the_pen_turner

Deleted User wrote: »

Amateur. You put your wheelbarrow or wagon at a convenient location in the middle of the lawn for dumping grass.

i often do this if the grass is heavy but it doesnt really save a huge amount. you get the grass to the composter faster but then have to fork it in and sweep up the mess from all the bits falling . it works well if my GF will do that part but thats not a real saving overall if the op is doing it all

magicbastarder

i don't know why people don't buy mulching mowers more often. surely they're a lot more sense in several ways than having to deal with all the clippings?

the_pen_turner

the_pen_turner wrote: »

i often do this if the grass is heavy but it doesnt really save a huge amount. you get the grass to the composter faster but then have to fork it in and sweep up the mess from all the bits falling . it works well if my GF will do that part but thats not a real saving overall if the op is doing it all

some of the variable speed 21" lawnmowers I had experience of had walking speeds up to 7 or 8kmph and the power to collect grass effectively at that speed.

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

i don't know why people don't buy mulching mowers more often. surely they're a lot more sense in several ways than having to deal with all the clippings?

great if you want to spread the seeds of weeds evenly across your garden.

GreeBo

Deleted User wrote: »

oil every 50 running hours i.e. over a year. sparkplugs every few years. filters last unless you clog them with oil.
That just leaves a few litres of petrol each year.

Its more than a few litres if you have 1/2 an acre though.
I have a similar size and have used ~15L so far this year and that was with a later start to the growing season.

GreeBo

GreeBo wrote: »

Its more than a few litres if you have 1/2 an acre though.
I have a similar size and have used ~15L so far this year and that was with a later start to the growing season.

I suppose in the absence of a proper property tax this will have to serve as your contribution to State Coffers as an residential property owner

the_pen_turner

magicbastarder wrote: »

i don't know why people don't buy mulching mowers more often. surely they're a lot more sense in several ways than having to deal with all the clippings?

they are great if you dont use your lawn for anything. just look at it. my neighbour mulched for a while and their dogs and children were distroyed from it.

Jim_Hodge

the_pen_turner wrote: »

my lawn is about half that size and it takes 1 hour 15min to cut but some of it has loads of obsticles and is far away from the compost bin.
the part that slows it down so much is the walking back and forth to empty the box. i can do it in 45min if i let it out on it but it looks horrible.
so im saying that twice my area would take twice as long.
the op says there are no major obsticals but it is a lot bigger so 2 hours minium is very fair estimate and could be 3 hours if the dump point is far away


it is 1214 m2 so asuming 2 passes for 1m wide then thats 2428 limier m. or 2.4km . that .4km is a nice bit more than 2km. but unless your mulching it will be a lot higher with all the walking to empty the box. probably well over 3km and closer to 3.5km . those boxs of grass are heavy enough as well

A mulcher is the way to go. And 400m is nothing.

Jim_Hodge

Deleted User wrote: »

great if you want to spread the seeds of weeds evenly across your garden.

Weed seed? Get that lawn in shape and there's no weed seeds.

CelticRambler

magicbastarder wrote: »

i don't know why people don't buy mulching mowers more often. surely they're a lot more sense in several ways than having to deal with all the clippings?

It's an awful waste of good clippings to leave them on the lawn when there are so many better places for them!

It might be worth remembering that the "time saved" argument in favour of a ride-on is also an argument against it: can you really justify the expense of a machine that you only use for 30-45 minutes a week, at most?

I have nearly two acres of "mixed surface" of which about half an acre is (meant to be) grass. At this stage can only justify a ride-on because I use it as a general purpose vehicle, and mostly for towing a trailer because it's bigger than any of my barrows.

As far as cutting the grass is concerned, and having re-wilded a lot of what was the much bigger "lawn-ish" area that justified buying the ride-on more than ten years ago, the cost-benefit equation just isn't the same any more.

As others have pointed out, apart from needing the space to store a hefty machine, there can be a quite lot of maintenance involved, and just getting to the blades can be a major exercise. For the "pretty" areas of the garden, I have to take the strimmer out and do a preliminary sweep of the corners and other awkward areas because the mower can't get in close enough; and if you're worried about causing damage with a robo-mower ... well you should see what destruction a ride-on is capable of! :eek:

the_pen_turner

Jim_Hodge wrote: »

A mulcher is the way to go. And 400m is nothing.

400m is a lot more. its 20% more

400m on its own isnt much but after a long day it can be a killer

SocialSpud

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Robot all the way.

Cutting grass is great for the first few months and a necessary evil after that.

Have you got one? Not sure if I should just get a mower to start with and a robot mower down the road when I see if I don't mind doing it manually or just get a robot now and be done with it.

The Continental Op

Deleted User wrote: »

great if you want to spread the seeds of weeds evenly across your garden.

Makes very little difference. I spent many years cutting grass commercially and cutting often enough makes far more difference than anything else.

There are always enough weed seeds in the soil, on the soil and at certain times of year even in the air to colonise any bare areas.

Jim_Hodge

Jim_Hodge wrote: »

Weed seed? Get that lawn in shape and there's no weed seeds.

removing the head of the weed disrupts the lifecycle of the weed.

magicbastarder

yes, it usually prompts it to flower again very quickly.

SouthWesterly

Kewreeuss wrote: »

Ride on if it’s all flat and you have somewhere to store it safely, as previously mentioned.
If you need some time to yourself, a self propelled electronic start mower is great, you stroll along behind it, gently steering it while you think your thoughts :-)

In 3 years I've only mowed the lawn once. My wife normally does it while I'm in work.

SocialSpud

SouthWesterly wrote: »

In 3 years I've only mowed the lawn once. My wife normally does it while I'm in work.

Lucky guy.

SouthWesterly

SocialSpud wrote: »

Lucky guy.

I do other stuff on our 4.5 acres